1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a focusing control apparatus for a camera.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although conventional cameras generally have a photographic distance of about 1 m to .infin. as a photographic range, a demand of photographing an object at a closer distance has been increased in recent years, and a camera which enables such close-up photographing has been developed accordingly. In a camera capable of performing close-up photography, however, when an .infin. position is set as an initial position of a photographic lens, a longer stroke is required on an optical axis of a photographic optical system to move the photographic lens to an in-focus position for an object at closer distance, comparing with the required stroke for an object at a close distance. In this camera, a photographer may cause a camera shake or missing a photographic chance, because a prolonged focusing time period for the closer distance delays a shutter release timing.
Conventionally, in order to prevent this inconvenience, a normal distance photographic mode (a mode having a photographic range of about 1 m to .infin.) and a close distance photographic mode (a mode having a photographic distance range of about less than 1 m), for example, are provided in a camera, and initial positions of a photographic lens are set for the respective modes. When a photographer operates a mode select switch to select one of the modes, the camera automatically sets the photographic lens at an initial position corresponding to the selected mode.
That is, this conventional camera includes an exclusive select switch as a mode selecting means for selecting the normal or close distance photographic modes, and a photographer has to manipulate the select switch to perform close-up photographing, and this manipulation is cumbersome for him. Therefore, a photographing chance may be missed due to a selecting operation. In addition, to perform photographing of an object at a boundary distance between the normal and close photographic ranges, a photographer has to determine a mode to be selected beforehand to set the mode. This determination is difficult to be made by a beginner and causes an increase of out-focused poor photographs.